Another display of great Italian fashion. Maybe it’s Lapo Elkann, or maybe it’s just that being Italian ultimately correlates to amazing style.
We don’t do a lot of what not to do here, but this is a great example of what not to do.
Here’s a guy photographed at Pitti Uomo, the huge menswear expo in Italy. He should know what he’s doing. He’s certainly on-trend, as they say in the magazines, with his white pants and double-breasted blue blazer. The only problem: he looks awful.
Why? His jacket is so shrunken it’s straining against his body. The almost self-parodic waist suppression has taken him from “strong shoulders and desirable man’s figure” to “woman wearing a corset,” and the short jacket has only emphasized that problem. His buttons are straining to contain his midsection. Maybe if he were emaciated he could pull off this look, but with a normal man’s body, he looks absurd. Which is too bad, because he’s a handsome guy who looks to be pretty fit.
Remember that tailored clothing should make your body look better. No trend is worth sacrificing a flattering shape. The reason you alter a coat to fit you is not to see how tight you can make it; it’s to make it as flattering as possible. This means it should make you look tall, athletic and healthy. This should be informed by your real body – you don’t need big shoulderpads or a huge amount of structure to get there – but it should always flatter. This looks like an advertisement for girdles.